Barista traces its roots back to the old coffee houses in Italy – the hotbeds of poetry, love, music, writing, revolution and of course, fine coffee. Drawing inspiration from them, Barista has taken up the challenge to open people’s eyes to the simple pleasures of coffee and revolutionise the coffee drinking experience in every city which they invade. Their Espresso bars and Crèmes are designed to reflect a warm, friendly and inviting atmosphere. Add to this, a menu you can ponder over for hours and you have everything you need to escape the pressures of daily life.
As Rini Dutta, head–marketing, Barista Coffee Company, puts it, “The Barista Espresso Bar has been inspired by the traditional Italian coffee shop. The Espresso Bar is a common meeting ground for people of all ages to sit and chat over a cup of coffee and a short eat. The majority of our guests are between 20 and 30 years of age.”
The Barista is now geared up to sport a completely new look. So, what makes Barista go for a makeover? “In our line of retail, the store is a three dimensional extension of the brand. The new look is aimed at giving a fresh look to our store and keeping it in line with the requirements of our guests,” told Rini enthusiastically. “The Espresso bar signage is meant to reflect a burst of energy, vitality and warmth. Our Espresso bars are places where people meet to connect over a cup of coffee.
However, the Crème signage is meant to indicate warmth, relaxation and rejuvenation. The Crème format is different from the Espresso bar in the sense it has a wider range of products (food, beverages, desserts etc), table service and more comfort, lounge like seating,” explained Rini. Elaborating on the new look, Rini replied, “The overall look of the stores has been created by Alok Nanda and Company. Nanda has been our brand custodian for over 6 years. The design has been brought alive by Amit Gulati, who is our chief architect.”
On asking about the key elements of this new design, Rini replied, “The key elements that have changed include the store signage, signature walls and furniture. Combined together, these three elements have made a significant change in the way our Espresso Bar looks. Our new store signage is a dramatic orange, which is the Barista signature colour. We believe our new signage reflects the warm and friendly essence of Barista.”
“A new graphic look has been created to our in-store signature walls. The graphics reflect our Italian heritage and also represent the different moments that can be enjoyed at Barista. We have chosen this graphic look because it is international and modern in execution,” added Rini. Even the light coloured furniture would be replaced with new darker furniture. “Our stores now have a comfort and regular seating. There are sofas (in chocolate and burgundy shades) and dark circular tables accompanied by chairs with padded seats,” told Rini.
Presently, Barista has over 150 outlets in India and they plan to revamp their look in four months time. They are also targeting 50 more outlets by the end of this financial year and their perfect combo of taste and ambience would indeed make it happen pretty soon!